Choices, Love, and Magic (Complete)

chapter 34

The war was long. Battling or recovering was all I did. It was all any of us did, unless we were dying. The war wasn't ending. Nobody was winning. All there was now was desperation. I could see in the eyes of everyone that fell to my blade that they, too, only wanted this war to end. That was all we fought for now.

Haley was gone. So were Cora, Olivia, and Christian. Megan had retreated to the human world to grieve. Tristam and Antonio fought with me still, as did Jessica, the girl I'd trained so long ago.

All we did was tainted. By sorrow. By death. Little did we know that the next battle would be the last.

You see, I'd been thinking of how to end the war when I remembered the prophecy. One specific section caught my attention.

For she brings death, but sends it away.

Of course, I was joyous when I remembered that line, but it faded when I recalled the next.

When she, herself, dies at the break of day.

That was when I realized that I had a choice. And I knew what I would to. All that was left was to say goodbye. So, in the middle of the night, I took a trip.

As I entered my home, I looked around. I tried to imprint it into my mind, because, after the battle, I would never return.

I went to my sister's room first. I opened the door slowly, so it wouldn't squeak. When it was open, I entered silently, like a ghost as I approached Nicole's bedside. I looked down at her with a small and sad smile.

I reached out a hand and brushed my sister's hair away from her sleeping face. I brushed the back of my hand across her cheek, and whispered one word.

"Goodbye."

And I silently walked out of her room, closing the door behind me.

Next I ascended the stairs to my parents' room. Like with Nicole's room, I eased the door open and approached the bedside. I spent a moment watching my sleeping parents, and I allowed a single tear to fall before wiping it away.

I brushed my lips softly over my parents' foreheads and stepped away. I took one last glance, whispered,"Goodbye," and was gone.

I'd come back to the Castle Lost In Time, and slept until the pre-dawn breakfast. My dreams were peaceful. Happy. Memories filled them, and I was satisfied with what I was going to do.

This morning, at breakfast, I approached Antonio as he sat with Tristam.

"Can we talk?" I asked hesitantly as I approached the brothers. Tristam waved a hand absently at the empty chair beside him, and I sat slowly.

I waited for them to look at me, and, when they had, I informed them,"I'm sorry." I could see confusion, so I explained,"I've strung you both along, and I had no right. From here on out, I won't bother either of you. I'm sorry for what I've done." I wanted to say more, but they would try to stop my plan. I couldn't allow them to do that, so I stood and walked out of the breakfast hall.

Then came the departure. I avoided all gazes, merely gave the orders to the regiment of where they were stationed. The stations I placed them in would keep them out of the way, and I only shared my station with one person.

Jessica.

When we reached our station, I immobilized Jessica and looked her in the eye. I saw confusion there, but I ignored it as I spoke to her.

"You've done very well," I assured her,"But now I have to end this. There's just something I want to say." I paused, took a breath, and continued,"Jessica, I couldn't be more proud of you. You've become a warrior, and a good one. After this war is over, I'm sure that, if you chose, you could even join the royal guard. You're going to be a great woman, Jessica. I only wish I could be there to see it. Goodbye, my friend."

And I ignored the horror in her eyes as I took her into the tent that I created. She would be safe here.

Since I took Jessica inside, I've been recording my journey, and now this is the book that I'm leaving in the care of someone I know very well. She promised me that she would take care of it, and that my story would not go untold. It is time for me to go to my last battle, while my regiment waits at the wrong battlefield.

When I walk onto that battlefield, I will release my magic. All of it. Because I now know what the prophecy means. No one will miss me, because I will erase myself from their minds before I go. My friend will replace me, and all will be alright. No one will remember anything about Katherine Wilen. All they will remember is what I replace myself with. For their own good, I must do this.

I understand the prophecy now. I was raised my a mortal, loving family. I do not regret it. I was found by the Empowered, and was given an extraordinary gift. I do not regret it. Stories about me spread, and I joined a war. I do regret that. The wisest ones took caution around me. I do not regret it. I fought in many battles, and brought much death. I regret it.

But I will send that death away when I release my magic, destroying the Shadow World and restoring the Empowered Ones to what they were.

I will not regret it.

Dawn is approaching, and my story will soon be done. It is time.

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Katherine did go out on that battlefield. She released her full power on the Shadow World, on the wickedness that resided there. She tapped into her very life force to sustain the magic, and the Shadow World crumbled, disappearing into oblivion as the sun rose.

And as dawn struck, the war was done. Katherine Wilen was gone, as were all memories of her. It was me that she sent the book to, a full chronicle of her last months. I'm the only one she allowed to keep the memories of her. For her sake, I did alter the book, and now it's done. Katherine's story is over, and it's time to pose the final question.

Was it real, or was it just a story after all?